Posted April 12, 2021
“I’d forgotten we were naked” he admitted, a note of wonder in his voice “Like Adam and Eve.”
"Not me, I was too busy ogling that body of yours," Clara declared in decidedly un-Clara fashion.
Jacob seemed to be in the mood for a second round but Clara pointed out they really should get going. So he rose, still naked, to retrieve his hat apparently. Even as she dressed she snuck a look at his backside. Yes, most folks would say he was scrawny but Clara was quite content with the way he was. He wasn't a weakling and once they were married, her cooking would put some pounds on that lanky frame.
He was back very quickly though and rattled.
“It’s Ned!” he hissed to Clara “He’s on the road! In the cart! Just stood there!!”
Clara went wide-eyed but calmed quickly, "Well...he could not have seen anything. We were low to the ground." Besides they had deliberately gone far enough from the road and selected a spot of ground that had low brush shielding view from any traffic.
"Hurry up!" like she needed to tell him as she now hastened to put on her shoes and tie them.
"Yes, Dear"
Posted April 12, 2021
“It’s Ned!” he hissed to Clara “He’s on the road! In the cart! Just stood there!!”
Clara went wide-eyed but calmed quickly, "Well...he could not have seen anything. We were low to the ground."
“Yeah, most of the time! But not when we … well, never mind that, what’s he doing there?! It’s like he’s just waiting for us! We’d better go back to the road and see what he wants, we can pretend we were just admiring the view.” He looked down at her as she carried on dressing, but more hurriedly now, admiring the view. He was still in sneaking around mode, even though the whole Miggins household now knew that he and Clara were well beyond the ‘admiring the view’ stage.
"Hurry up!" like she needed to tell him as she now hastened to put on her shoes and tie them.
The man on the cart was happy to wait. He was happy to sit on that cart, looking at the miles and miles of expanse, free to ride North, East, South or West; or free to sit stock still and wait for young Jake. It had been eleven years, but what was eleven years compared to the forty five before them? He still had to stop himself saying it in his head. Mars Jake. He was just Jake, and he was just Ned. Sure, Ned, short for Edward. He’d changed that, amongst other things. Ned, not Nero. Those genteel Southerners and their liking for classical names.
He also stopped himself remembering how he had spotted the place where Jake and his lady friend had departed the road and pushed their way through the bushes. He stopped himself remembering how many times he’d helped the overseer track down a runaway, him and Brutus. Brutus had been a hound, by the way, not another slave. Those genteel Southerners and their liking for classical names.
Why, here they came now, doing a pretty good imitation of a couple out for a Sunday stroll. He’d never seen anything quite so innocent looking. He stifled a chuckle and looked serious.
“Jake, Miss Clara. Just fancy seeing you here!” he smiled.
“We were just admiring the view!” shouted Jake as the two of them tried not to stumble too much as they came through the scrub to the dirt road, hand tightly in hand. “Weren’t we dear?” he included Clara and called her what her supposed a man should call his wife.
Posted April 12, 2021
Clara actually was finished dressing before Jacob, quite a feat really since she had more to put on than he did. Once looking reasonably presentable after brushing off dirt and such from their garments, the pair emerged to walk toward the negro man waiting seemingly patiently in the wagon.
“Jake, Miss Clara. Just fancy seeing you here!” he smiled.
Clara only nodded, adjusting her hat yet one more time, letting Jacob do the talking.
"We were just admiring the view!” shouted Jake as the two of them tried not to stumble too much as they came through the scrub to the dirt road, hand tightly in hand. “Weren’t we dear?”
"Yes of course, a beautiful day," Clara dutifully fell into the act but she felt certain the old fella wasn't that stupid to not know something had been going on out of sight of the road.
"Yes, Dear"
Posted April 13, 2021
"We were just admiring the view!” shouted Jake as the two of them tried not to stumble too much as they came through the scrub to the dirt road, hand tightly in hand. “Weren’t we dear?”
"Yes of course, a beautiful day," Clara dutifully fell into the act but she felt certain the old fella wasn't that stupid to not know something had been going on out of sight of the road.
Ned tried, unsuccessfully, to look convinced, staring at nothing on the horizon and thinking of something sad to stop from laughing. Poor old Brutus.
“How come you’re out with Buttercup?” asked Jake but pointedly not asking him why he was stopped in the middle of nowhere, just by chance where he and Clara had been canoodling.
“Well, Jake, I was standing in the kitchen after you two lit out, and a certain person who shall not be named says to me ‘Now listen you, don’t you dare go getting that horse and cart and followin’ after that pair!’ she says. And then she says ‘And don’t you be getting’ that money I saved for that ungrateful rascal out from where I hid it!’ And I says to myself, ‘Why Ned, you’re a free man! You don’t need to do what that old woman says. So here I is, here’s the cart and…” he patted a small bag next to him “… here’s your money!”
(He forgot to mention the part where Granny had also had to say to him ‘Well, what’re you waiting for, Slowcoach, they’ll be halfway to Canada by now!’)
Ned looked down at the innocent looking young, young couple. “Well, where we headed, folks?” he asked.
Jacob squeezed Clara’s hand and turned to look into her eyes, a little suspicious of this deus ex machina but happy to have a straw to grasp at.
“Kalispell?” he asked her.
Posted April 13, 2021
Ned seemed to accept their flimsy cover story, bless the fellow, and Jacob inquired then why he was out here on the road with horse and wagon.
“Well, Jake, I was standing in the kitchen after you two lit out, and a certain person who shall not be named says to me ‘Now listen you, don’t you dare go getting that horse and cart and followin’ after that pair!’ she says. And then she says ‘And don’t you be getting’ that money I saved for that ungrateful rascal out from where I hid it!’ And I says to myself, ‘Why Ned, you’re a free man! You don’t need to do what that old woman says. So here I is, here’s the cart and…” he patted a small bag next to him “… here’s your money!”
Money? Clara blinked, he did too say money! And it sure sounded like Granny had placed powerful hints to the old negro to do what he just now did. He also patted a money purse. Still Clara could not help but be suspicious - afterall it was the same woman who was so insulting and callous and demanding just earlier.
"Would she give you money?" she asked of Jacob, "Maybe she is setting a trap? We accept it and then later she tells the law that we stole it?"
Ned then asked where they were going. Jacob glanced to her, "Kalispell?"
"Yes, yes, to town. Thank you, Ned," Clara nodded then let Jacob help her into the passenger seat,
"Yes, Dear"
Posted April 14, 2021
"Would she give you money?" she asked of Jacob, "Maybe she is setting a trap? We accept it and then later she tells the law that we stole it?"
Jacob shook his head. “She nuts, and she can be pretty rough on people, but she ain’t mean to her own.” Was his opinion.
Ned chuckled his agreement. “Ain’t that the truth, ol’ Jake here’s the apple o’ that old woman’s eye, even if she don’t always show it. Reckon her problem is: you’re the apple o’ his eye now, Miss Clara!”
Ned then asked where they were going. Jacob glanced to her, "Kalispell?"
"Yes, yes, to town. Thank you, Ned," Clara nodded then let Jacob help her into the passenger seat.
“Yes! Kalispell, and don’t spare the horses!” Jacob pronounced jocularly as he helped Clara up onto the wagon, upon which they would take a bumping, jolting ride it town. Buttercup must have heard that last crack as she tossed her head and whinnied at the injunction.
Ned made a click-click noise with his mouth and the horse pulled them forward. Jacob picked up the bag and was about to count it when, on a whim, he gave it to Clara. “Here you are dear, you’d better have this: housekeeping money.” He liked practicing his husbandly duties, no matter what their nature.
Posted April 14, 2021
Jacob shook his head. “She's nuts, and she can be pretty rough on people, but she ain’t mean to her own.”
"I do not know how you can say that? I was only there in your house for a short while and she insulted and called both you and your sister names. She bullied you both," Clara countered.
Ned chuckled his agreement with Jacob. “Ain’t that the truth, ol’ Jake here’s the apple o’ that old woman’s eye, even if she don’t always show it. Reckon her problem is: you’re the apple o’ his eye now, Miss Clara!”
"And that is hardly my fault," Clara sighed. So now among all their other problems, she had to deal with jealousy too?
The pair decided to ride the wagon into town rather than walk so both clambered up and Ned urged the horse forward.
Jacob picked up the bag and was about to count it when, on a whim, he gave it to Clara. “Here you are dear, you’d better have this: housekeeping money.”
Clara shook her head, "We do not even have a house yet to clean. And I am reluctant to accept her money anyhow. I would prefer she apologize to the both of us for the names she called us. I have no desire to be beholden to her."
There was a catch, a price to this monetary gift, she was sure of it.
"Yes, Dear"
Posted April 15, 2021
"I do not know how you can say that? I was only there in your house for a short while and she insulted and called both you and your sister names. She bullied you both," Clara countered.
Jacob was just used Granny’s language, he hadn’t really given it another thought, and technically the old woman hadn’t called Clara a whore, just said that everybody else would call her one, if they didn’t get wed, pronto. But, and this was a very big but, he wasn’t fool enough to say that to Clara, he just hemmed and hawed and grunted agreement at anything his darling little wife to be suggested, hoping for a quiet life. Why, they were as good as married already!
They clambered onto the wagon and, Clara refusing it, he counted up the money as they headed into Kalispell. It might not have been a king’s ransom in gold, but it was a tidy sum and Jacob couldn’t but wonder at the tattily dressed Ned, who presumably knew where all Granny’s buried treasures were hid and didn’t grab the lot and make a run for it. He had heard Ned’s stories about the South and the end of the Civil War when his owners, fearing the approach of Sherman’s ravagers, had given him all the family silver to hide in the cane break while they waited terrified in the house, hoping to stop it being burned to the foundations. The man was just innately trustworthy.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
After Ned had dropped them off in Kalispell and told them where he’d be if they needed him, the obvious place to go and look for their prospective celebrant was the Church. Like most churchgoers, they assumed that the man who conducted the services was kept, along with the prayer-books and other paraphernalia of religion, in the small dusty cupboard known as the vestry, and fetched out and put in place in the pulpit each and every Sunday. But no dice, he wasn't there.
Jacob looked lost.
“What are we going to do?” he asked Clara weakly, looking around outside the church, hoping the tall pastor, who had taken over many of the ailing Gideon Evans’ duties, might suddenly appear from heaven in a fiery chariot like Elijah in reverse.
“Arabella’ll know where he lives.” He proffered, not wanting to be the one who actually suggested that they go and find her.
Posted April 15, 2021
Jacob took back the coin pouch from her after Clara's adamant refusal to accept Granny's money then counted it carefully while she sat here as the wagon rumbled slowly on the road til their eventual arrival in Kalispell. Ned dropped them off, the girl making a point to voicing her thanks to the man. She had to admire an honest and loyal man like he was.
Of course the young couple checked out the church building first but no one was there. Clara was relieved in a way as she was quite certain Parson Evans would not condone a marriage like this especially without parental consent. Their hopes were on the new man. Rumor already had it the fellow lived in the saloon of all places! Fairly scandalous. Clara might be thinking blasphemously but a clergyman like that might be more willing to bend the rules for a marriage like theirs?
“What are we going to do?” Jacob asked Clara weakly, looking around outside the church.
"I honestly do not know," Clara shrugged, it was unsurprising things were not going well, this whole situation was such a disaster.
“Arabella’ll know where he lives.” He proffered.
"He lives in the saloon. I heard it in the diner," Clara announced out of the blue, "So you want to go in there and look around?" She was not about to suggest she do such a thing.
"Yes, Dear"
Posted April 16, 2021
“Arabella’ll know where he lives.” He proffered.
"He lives in the saloon. I heard it in the diner," Clara announced out of the blue, "So you want to go in there and look around?" She was not about to suggest she do such a thing.
Jacob frowned. Really?! That sounded a bit odd, but he wasn’t about to gainsay Clara on the matter. Besides, they’d have to go there anyway to ask Arabella where her ‘friend in religion’ actually lived.
“All right, but you come too. Don’t worry, it’ll be all right, we won’t go in the saloon, we’ll go round the back where I make the deliveries. I don’t think I’m in Arabella’s good books right now, but she’ll do anything for you.” He reasoned.
To be honest, he had been avoiding the Virginian girl for some time: not for the usual reason people avoided her – earache – but, at first, because he owed her money. Not a lot, but enough so that, if he paid her, he wouldn’t be able to visit Clara at the diner and sample her pie. Then, after he and Clara had ‘cemented their bond’ he didn’t want Arabella quizzing him about it. He didn’t get the impression that Clara ever actively sought the girl out, either. But now they needed her help.